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Friday, June 17, 2005
Population office mobilizes media for public awareness
The Commission on Population (Popcom) in the region is mobilizing the media sector in its dissemination campaign to drum up awareness on the results of the 2003 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS).
The commission, in coordination with the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Academy for Educational Development, last June 15 gathered some 40 members of the media coming from the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) to orient them on the NDHS results and to seek their support and cooperation to the advocacy.
Popcom acting regional head Jesusa Villarante cited the role of the fourth estate in shaping public opinion and to local and national development.
Pocom Executive Director Tomas Osias and NSO Regional Director Maqtahar Manulon presented the key findings of the NDHS, the eighth in a series of nationwide surveys conducted every five years since 1968.
Osias delved on fertility and family planning while Manulon compared the maternal and childcare and other health concerns of the Zamboanga Peninsula and Armm regions.
Health Undersecretary and officer-in-charge of the Regional Health Office Milagros Fernandez was also present and was tasked to give the opening message.
Major findings of the NDHS included fertility decline brought about by longer intervals between births; increased user of contraception among married women which has more than tripled over the past 35 years or 15 percent in 1968 to 49 percent in 2003; maternal and child health, citing the importance of both antenatal and postnatal care for mothers and childhood immunization for children; and awareness of HIV-Aids and other sexually transmitted infections.
The 2003 NDHS was implemented by the NSO with technical assistance from the ORC Macro and financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid). The survey covered 12, 586 households and completed interviews for 13, 633 women 15-19 years old and 4, 766 men 15-54 years old.
The survey also revealed that spacing births to at least three years apart and improving maternal and child health services could reduce infant mortality while improved access to health facilities for both mothers and children will play a key role in increase Filipino children's well being and survival.
The NSO regional office a month ago also spearheaded a data dissemination campaign of the 2003 Ndhs with program planners, policy makers, data users and representatives from the different government and private agencies in the region.
The survey is aimed to provide up to date information on population, family planning and health to assist policymakers and program managers in evaluating and designing strategies for improving health and family planning services in the country.
(June 17, 2005 issue)
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